Solids, Liquids, and Gases

• Solids & Liquids:

  • In solids and liquids, the molecules are tightly packed together
  • The difference is, in a liquid, the molecules have enough energy to push past each other
  • As a result of this, the density of solids and liquids are roughly the same
• The molecules in solids and liquids are tightly packed, giving them a high density:

  
• Gases:

  • In a gas, the molecules are widely separated
  • As a result of this, gases have significantly lower densities than solids or liquids
  • At room temperature, the distance between molecules in a gas is roughly ten times (in each direction) the distance between molecules in a solid or liquid
• The molecules in a gas are widely spaced, giving it a much lower density: